Marine rescue devices and/or assemblies are used to selectively recover and/or rescue individuals who are stranded in (i.e., who are “adrift” and/or otherwise endangered or inconvenienced by being in) a body of water (e.g., an ocean, a lake, or another type of marine environment), and to selectively remove these individuals from the body of water and onto a ship, helicopter and/or other selectively movable assembly.
Prior and/or current marine rescue devices and/or assemblies are typically and selectively lowered into the water by the use a pulley device (e.g., a crank and/or winch mechanism and a cable assembly which cooperatively and selectively raise and lower the marine rescue device into the body of water). These devices typically include a containment and/or rescue/containment portion which, as previously indicated, is typically lowered into the water, whereupon the individual to be rescued must actively climb and/or maneuver into the containment portion of the assembly and is then removed from the water.
These foregoing devices, while sometimes effectively allowing an individual to be rescued, suffer from some drawbacks. For example and without limitation, the foregoing containment portion of each of the devices typically is wholly comprised of a soft and pliable “net” and/or “mesh” portion which is designed to hold and/or support an individual being rescued. This netting portion often becomes tangled (i.e., wrapped) around the individual or “around itself” and is very difficult to be accurately positioned within the water. Hence, these rescue devices and assemblies are oftentimes ineffective and/or difficult to operate and do not have a high probability of successful deployment.
Further, these prior and/or current rescue devices and/or assemblies are typically adapted so that an individual must “climb into” (i.e., actively move towards, onto, and/or otherwise into contact with) the respective containment portion since the soft and pliable netting portion is not easily maneuverable within the water and is not adapted to readily “scoop up” the individual to be rescued. In cases where there are strong winds and/or high waves and/or other “environmental-type” effects, it can be difficult or impossible for the individual to “climb into” the rescue assembly (or even ensure that these respective containment portions come close to the individual to be rescued). Additionally, if the individual to be rescued is unconscious or otherwise unresponsive, it can also be difficult or impossible to collect the individual with the rescue assembly portion.
There is therefore a need for a new and novel marine rescue device and a method for rescuing an individual, which allows a rescuer or rescuers to quickly, safely and efficiently collect a conscious and/or unconscious individual from a body of water, and which overcomes at least some of the drawback associated with prior and/or current marine rescue devices.